Monday, 27 October 2014

If you're anything like me then from time to time you'll begin to get bored of your same old makeup routine- please tell me I'm not the only one? I'm forever wanting to do something a bit different with my makeup but more often than not I don't really know how to change it up or I just simply don't have the makeup skills to create certain looks. If that sounds a little like you then hopefully this post will give you some inspiration! These are just a few of my favourite makeup looks to wear over the a/w months, I thought that you might like them too...

Look at me bold lips:

What do you think to bright, bold lipstick? Would it be something you'd wear? I think my favourite look from this category would be the first one- it's perfect for over the autumn/winter months.

Let the eyes do the talking:

If the last category didn't take your fancy then hopefully this one did? Winged eyeliner and big voluminous lashes are always a winning combination!

I hope this post has gave you a few ideas, even if you don't want to copy the look(s) exactly you could take inspiration and create your own. What do you think to these makeup looks, would you recreate any? Lauren x

Wednesday, 8 October 2014

Since you all seemed to like my 'Terry's chocolate orange cupcakes' (read post here)I thought I'd share my latest creation with you all: Rocky road cupcakes with a Nutella centre. As you can imagine they're extremely chocolatey- heaven in cupcake form for any chocoholic out there! The great thing about making these cupcakes is the decoration doesn't have to look perfect so anybody could give these a go and they'd still look yummy. The only downside is the amount of calories each cupcake contains... but let's just forget about that. So if you'd like to know how to make them then carry on reading!

1. To make cakes, place all of the cupcake ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk them all together until combined. You could use a wooden spoon if you don't have a whisk but this will take longer and requires much more effort!

2. Place even amounts of mixture into 8 cupcake cases. There might be a bit of mixture left depending on
how big your cupcake cases are!

3. Bake on the second shelf from the top of a preheated oven 190 c/ 170 c fan/ gas 5 for 15-20 minutes. They may take longer than that though so just bake until they're ready. You can tell when they're fully baked by using a cocktail stick/something similar to poke into the middle of the cupcake, if there's mixture on the cocktail stick then they need to be longer in the oven and if it comes out clean then they're ready! Cool on a wire tray.

4.) Once your cupcakes are cooled completely you want to carve out the centre of your cupcakes, I just usually cut around a piping nozzle as that's a good size! After you've done that you just spoon the Nutella into the centre and then cover it with the cake you've just cut out of the middle. You're then ready to pipe!

Buttercream:

1. Whisk 115g worth of butter with a whisk for 5-10 minutes so it's extra fluffy and then sift 175g worth of icing sugar into the same bowl.

2. Combine the icing sugar and butter together with a whisk.

3. To melt the dark chocolate you can either put it in the microwave or melt it over the hob. Once it's melted
add to the buttercream and stir until it's all combined.

4. To pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes you'll need to use a piping bag. You can pipe the buttercream on however you want so just choose the nozzle you like best. Tip- put the piping bag into a tall glass and tuck the fabric around the glass so that the buttercream is easier to put into the piping bag!

Decoration: (the fun part)

1. Start by melting yet more chocolate, this will be used to drizzle over all of your decorations at the end.

2. Next I decorated the cupcakes with mini marshmallows and Maltesers, there's no set way on how to decorate these cupcakes so just be creative.

3. Last but not least you want to drizzle your melted chocolate over the top of your cupcakes! I just usually use a fork to do this bit!

Ta da! You should hopefully now have 8 cupcakes that look something a little like mine, i hope you enjoy them! Lauren x

Monday, 6 October 2014

Are you stuck in a bit of a hairstyle rut? Do you find yourself wearing the same hairstyle everyday and you'd like a change but you're just not sure where to start? If you answered yes then hopefully this post will give you some inspiration. These are just a few of my favourite hairstyles, some are a little more complicated but the majority are really easy to do and don't take much time at all. Enjoy...